Pumping Up the Programming

Amazon Prime Video: Amazon was the first video service to offer titles in HDR starting in May 2015 with its original series Mozart in the Jungle. It offers HDR-enabled titles on Amazon Prime (free for the company’s Prime members) and on Amazon Video (titles that anyone can purchase or rent with no membership required). On March 11, the second season of the Amazon original series Bosch will be available in HDR.

Comcast: First available for Samsung UHD TVs in 2014, Comcast’s Xfinity in UHD app offers hundreds of 4K titles, some with HDR. Matt Strauss, executive VP and GM of video services for Comcast Cable, said when the service launched that Xfinity in UHD would provide “our customers with UHD and HDR programming on the biggest screen in the home.”

Kaleidescape: High-end movie server company Kaleidescape, based in Sunnyvale, Calif., launched a third-generation version of its Kaleidescape Movie Store earlier this year, offering more than 100 4K Ultra HD titles, some with HDR. The HDR titles available can be downloaded and played at bit rates of up to 100 Mbps and are available for the company’s line of Encore and Strato players and servers.

M-GO: M-GO, the transactional VOD digital service purchased from Technicolor and DreamWorks Animation by online movie ticket seller Fandango in late January, offers HDR-enabled titles for download to devices that support Vidity, the consumer brand name for the 4K download and playback technology from the studio-supported Secure Content Storage Association (SCSA).

Netflix: Netflix has announced HDR support for its original series Marco Polo as well as the second season of Daredevil and has plans to offer more of its 4K content this year with HDR. Netflix has announced support for Dolby Vision’s HDR technology.

Sony: At the 2016 CES, Sony announced it will launch a 4K streaming service, dubbed Ultra, with HDR this year for owners of its 4K TVs. More details on the launch are expected to be announced March 29 when several Sony executives gather in San Francisco for a press event, according to a Sony Pictures Home Entertainment spokesman.

UltraFlix: San Jose, Calif.-based NanoTech Entertainment in late 2015 updated its UltraFlix 4K streaming channel to carry HDR-enabled titles, announcing at the time that “viewers not only feel the difference, but significantly notice the fine details” when viewing HDR.

Vudu: Walmart-owned streaming service Vudu late last year began offering titles that include Dolby Vision HDR technology, specifically for viewing via Vizio’s reference series of UHD TVs as well as the Roku 4.

YouTube: YouTube announced at CES that it will begin supporting HDR later this year. A YouTube spokeswoman said no additional details were available at this time.

Broadcasting & Cable Newsletter

The television industry's top news stories, analysis and blogs of the day.

Thank you for signing up to Next TV. You will receive a verification email shortly.

There was a problem. Please refresh the page and try again.

No spam, we promise. You can unsubscribe at any time and we'll never share your details without your permission.